Treasury has over the years been allocating money to
political parties that qualify to receive Government funding under the
Political Parties and Finance Act.
While Zanu PF and CCC are the two who qualify this year, of
late there has been a dispute between who is the legitimate representative of
CCC between its interim secretary general, Mr Sengenzo Tshabangu, and another
rival camp led by Mr Nelson Chamisa.
Since the party has no proper structure, there could well
be disputes over where the political funding should go.
Mr Tshabangu has since written to Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi that he was the one entitled to
receive the money, while Mr Chamisa has sought to assert his authority on the
party.
Mr Tshabangu has recalled several Members of Parliament and
councillors after Parliament declined to meddle in the opposition party’s
internal bickering.
The Chamisa-led faction has sought to discredit Mr
Tshabangu saying he was an imposter something that has set a bruising legal
battle before the High Court.
By-elections have since been held with another one set for
next month after Mr Tshabangu recalled several legislators and councillors.
In an interview, Minister Ziyambi said Government will be
guided by what the law provides in terms of distribution of the money.
“The political parties in Parliament are identifiable.
“We have Zanu PF and CCC, so in that process we will
gazette how much has been allocated and what each party is entitled to. We will
then ask authorised representatives of the said parties to submit names and
account numbers where the money will be deposited,” said Minister Ziyambi.
If there was more than one receipting name and account from
any political party claiming to be legitimate representative of the
organisation, Government would not take sides and would allow the CCC to fix
the issue or fight it out in court between themselves, the Government then
following whatever the court ordered.
“We will not release money if there are disputes, but will
allow them to fix their issues. If it means they go to court we will comply
with whatever the court would have ruled,” said Minister Ziyambi.
The money is disbursed based on the percentage of votes the
two parties received in the August 23, 2023 harmonised elections.
For a political party to qualify, it should have garnered
at least five percent of the vote in a general election which is why only two
of the contesting parties qualified.
The Government promulgated the Political Parties Finance
Act after it emerged that some opposition parties were receiving funding from
foreign governments and organisations as part of covert operations to achieve
regime change.
Political parties can now receive lawful funding through
Government grants under the Act, the sale of party cards, fundraising
activities, and from their members.
Government has since gazetted the Private Voluntary
Organisation’s Amendment Bill that prohibits Non Government Organisation’s from
campaigning for political parties or candidates, from funding them and from
being a conduit for funds.
The Act came after it emerged that civic society and NGOs
were being used as conduits for illegal activities by some political parties
and hostile foreign agencies. Herald
0 comments:
Post a Comment