The MDC alliance has described as “brazen act of political thuggery” the move by government to withhold the MDC grant entitled to the party under the Political Parties Finance Act while Zanu PF has already been paid their dues.
The party reported that the past one week has seen top MDC officials being sent from pillar to post in their quest to get the grant entitled to the party under the laws of the country.
“The government grant is the money that as a party we use to support parliamentary work and other administrative and political purposes that advance the agenda of the people who continue to support the MDC, as evidenced by the 2,6 million votes received by President Nelson Chamisa in last year’s stolen election. Now Zanu PF is engaging in cheap political games to deny the party its share entitled to it under the Political Parties Finance Act.
“We place it on record that it was none other than the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Mrs Virginia Mabhiza, who confirmed to the MDC last week that the government had disbursed money to political parties. She confirmed that she had already disbursed money to Zanu PF but upon being asked about the MDC share, she referred us to Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, who denied that they had received the money from Treasury,” MDC said in a statement yesterday.
The party reported that on Tuesday, 6 August 2019, the MDC Secretary General Hon. Chalton Hwende met with the Finance Minister Hon. Mthuli Ncube at Parliament in the presence of Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi. Minister Ncube insisted in the presence of Minister Ziyambi that he had since disbursed money to political parties.
“Minister Ncube expressed shock that the MDC had not received its share of the money, to which minister Kazembe then promised to disburse the money the following day but he did not do so. The next thing we heard from the Ministry of Justice was that they were not releasing our money because they had received a letter from Lovemore Madhuku on behalf of Mrs Thokozani Khupe, the president of another party calling itself the MDC T, seeking to receive our share of the money. For that reason they said they could not disburse our money.
“It is important to state that Madhuku was a presidential candidate who contested the last election. Mrs Khupe’s party also contested the last election and her party is represented in Parliament. It is shocking that a party with representation in Parliament, which representation fails to meet the threshold for receiving money under the Political Parties Finance Act, would claim money due to another political party.”
The MDC said it bemoans the conflation between the party and the State which Zanu PF is using to “deny us the money due to us under the laws of the
land. We have seen statements from the government saying we cannot receive our money because government has other priorities. Yet this is the same government that is on record saying that they have a surplus. If they have a surplus on their budget as they claim, they should simply give the MDC its share.”
“We are tired of these cheap games. We are tired of being harassed, victimised and having our legitimate operations crippled for demanding that which is rightfully due to us.”