The Constitution Select Committee of Parliament (Copac) is yet to receive its dues by the Ministry of Justice, more than 5 years after it completed the Constitution-making process.
Reports indicate that Copac is owed $367 000. The Ministry of Justice is heavily indebted through other government departments which fall under its oversight, such as the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS). ZPCS owes the Central Mechanical Engineering Department (CMED) $16 million.
This was revealed in a report by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, which was recently presented in the National Assembly by Chitungwiza South MP Maxwell Mavhunga. Said Mavhunga:
There is an outstanding debt which was accrued during Copac, the Constitution making process, and the ministry has obtained an assurance that it will be covered by Treasury in the sum of $367 473,69.
This is basically for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings and a company called Vixstrom, which is owed $117 000 of that amount.
We noted that ZPCS has arrears of almost $16 million owed to CMED for the hiring of vehicles and other utilities. We recommend that at least Treasury must release about $2 million, which should go towards the purchase of motor vehicles for ZPCS because we noted that it is actually more expensive to hire vehicles than to purchase their own. One can imagine how many vehicles could have been bought with that amount of $16 million.