The missing funds after the party allegedly received $61
million from government under the Political Parties Finance Act a fortnight ago
and Mwonzora, with the aid of the finance director Tody Mapingire, reportedly
transferred $300 000 into the account of one of their lawyers without Khupe’s
knowledge. Khupe last Monday allegedly convened an emergency meeting to
deliberate on the issue.
At the meeting, Mwonzora is said to have said he took the
money to assist the lawyer after a bereavement and apologised for the “fraud”.
According to party insiders, under normal circumstances,
the finance and administration committee deliberates on the expenses and the
president then authorises the withdrawal after consulting the chairman,
secretary-general and treasurer-general, which was not done in this case.
A party member, Leornard Chisvo has already reported a
fraud case against Mwonzora and Mapingire to the police at Highlands Police
Station and the matter was recorded under RRB4586626. The report was made on
Friday.
MDC-T deputy treasurer-general Chief Ndlovu confirmed the
case in a circular to party members titled Unauthorised Withdrawal/Payment of
$300 000 From Treasury.
Ndlovu said he was “obliged to respond to the accusations
and suspicion that has been fuelled by my silence to put the record straight”.
“It is true that the only person who was supposed to make
payments of any nature from the party coffers is the treasurer as you have been
aware. I am, however, not the only person with access. I would like the party
membership to know that I had no hand in the transfer of $300 000 out of the
party account. The truth of the matter is that I only got to know about that
transaction after it had gone through.
“I only got the details of the transfer when I got into the
finance and administration meeting. The secretary-general (Mwonzora) explained
that he made the transfer and gave details. This is now known to the party
leadership and the whole standing committee to which the SG apologised and I am
sure it is being handled by the leadership.
“As your treasurer-general, I will always handle financial
matters with honesty and trustworthiness.”
But Mwonzora, in a statement dated December 8, said the
allegations were unfounded, claiming that party funds were fully accounted for.
He blamed political gamesmanship ahead of the party congress for “the smear
campaign” against him”.
Mwonzora said the administration of the party funds were
guided by the party constitution and finance and administration rules developed
in 2001.
“Periodically, through the treasurer-general, the party
provides financial reports to the national executive committee. Further, it is
impossible for any individual to get money out of the party without the other
leaders’ knowledge,” Mwonzora said.
“One of the rules in the party is that when it comes to
internal elections, individual candidates source their own funds and are not
funded by the party. The reports coming from the social media are simply part
of a smear campaign against some candidates and have to be dismissed as such.”
However, sources within the party said the constitution
allowed the finance director to order a withdrawal, which they claimed Mwonzora
did.
Chisvo said he was too committed to talk about the issue,
promising to call back when pressure eased.
Party national chairman Morgen Komichi refused to comment,
referring questions to party spokesperson Kalipani Phugeni, who was not picking
calls. Phugeni, seen as a Khupe
loyalist, said the development was concerning.
“I am not sure of what really happened regarding the $300
000, but I am sure I will get the full details during the next national
standing committee meeting. What we have are statements from the
secretary-general and the one from the treasurer-general. The statements are at
war and the contradictions are a worrying trend that we should look at during
the next meeting. It is a big cause for concern.”
Mwonzora is battling it out with Khupe for the party
presidency. Komichi and deputy national chairman Elias Mudzuri are also in the
presidential race.
Khupe’s backers are allegedly agitated over the $300 000
heist and pushing to have Mwonzora suspended before the congress. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment