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Over 1 000 Zimbos trafficked to China: Parly told

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MORE than 1 000 Zimbabweans, mostly women, have been trafficked to China alone, with 200 of them reportedly in jail in the Asian country for drug trafficking, Parliament heard yesterday.

MORE than 1 000 Zimbabweans, mostly women, have been trafficked to China alone, with 200 of them reportedly in jail in the Asian country for drug trafficking, Parliament heard yesterday.

by VENERANDA LANGA

biata nyamupinga

Introducing a motion on human trafficking in the National Assembly yesterday, the chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Biata Nyamupinga, said most of the women trafficked to China were married to Nigerians.

She claimed the women were arrested after they were caught with wedding gowns loaded with hard drugs. “Our women are not only trafficked in Kuwait, but in countries like China, other Arab countries, and even South Africa,” Nyamupinga said.

“As we speak right now, we have contacts of the so-called employers, who have our girls in a basement suffering torture, inhuman treatment and sexual exploitation.”

Nyamupinga said the women were not allowed to bathe using soap and only allowed to sleep for two hours. She said some churches and sects in Zimbabwe were fuelling human trafficking.

“Girls are abused in Apostolic sects under the guise that they are being trained as sisters. Rural girls are also brought into cities to work as housemaids and abused or forced to work at brothels. Churches pray for people to get employment and immediately human trafficking syndicates promise them jobs,” she said.

Male MPs yesterday joined their female counterparts in sitting on the floor to protest the enslavement of Zimbabwean women in Kuwait.

But National Assembly Speaker Jacob Mudenda ruled that this was disturbing Parliamentary business. Meanwhile, former ICT minister Webster Shamu denied owning a strip club at the centre of debate in the National Assembly.

“May I inform the House that I do not own any kind of night club in my business activities. In fact, it is now a feature in this House that people cast aspersions on other MPs,” he said.

“The same opposition MPs accused me of getting a vehicle from ZBC [Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation]. We must speak the truth in this House. Without full investigations, we have no right to speak.”

Mudenda warned MPs against relying on rumours and using Parliamentary privileges to defame colleagues.