A proposed amendment to Political Parties (Finance) Act provides for disclosure and audits of parties’ sources of funding and the use of campaign funding.
According to NDI/IRI Zimbabwe International Election Observer Mission Final Report for the July 30, 2018 Harmonized Elections published by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, recommendations were to amend the Po litical Parties (Finance) Act to promote transparency in political party financing.
“This includes regulations on reporting and expenditures and that are in line with international conventions,” the report said.
In a Parliament of Zimbabwe Form of Petition by ZESN presented on December 3, 2018, to the First Session-Nineth Parliament it said: “These (political parties) must be compelled by law to comprehensively deploy polling agents to observe key electoral processes. There is also need to regulate political parties. The legal framework must provide for the disclosure and audits of parties’ sources of funding, and the use of campaign funding. Multi-party Liaison Committees must be made permanent features of the electoral cycle”
Some private companies, business people and parastatals have been accused of funding ZANU-PF election campaign while the opposition MDC-A has also in the past been accused of being funded by some western countries and their allies.
The African Union Election Observation Mission to Zimbabwe it recommended that ZEC should foster dialogue and consultation with stakeholders to enhance confidence in the electoral process and put measures in place to efficiently operationalize the Multi-Party Liaison Committee meetings to improve communication with stakeholders.
Currently Government is engaging with other stakeholders through the Political Actors Dialogue although it is not inclusive of the main opposition MDC-Alliance.
The observer missions highlighted issues that were brought to the fore by the opposition parties which are a result of residual mistrust for ZEC emanating from the previous elections.