Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) president, Nelson Chamisa, has claimed that the US$40 000 loans given to Members of Parliament (MPs) were an attempt by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to bribe legislators to avoid losing in the 2023 elections.
In a video clip that has been circulating on social media platforms, Chamisa accused Mnangagwa of trying to use the housing loans for MPs to avert a “bhora musango” within the ruling party.
Bhora Musango is a strategy that was allegedly used by aspiring ZANU PF MPs and Councillors in 2008 whereby they campaigned for themselves while at the same time they de-campaigned the then-party presidential candidate, Robert Mugabe. Said Chamisa:
But it’s not so much about the CCC, it’s much about Mr Mnangagwa, trying to avert a ‘bhora musango’ within ZANU PF because he feels the MPs are going to vote for themselves and not campaign for him but campaign for Mukomana (referring to himself).
So, to try and oil the palms of the MPs, they couldn’t do it only for ZANU PF (MPs) from what I have investigated and I got a report this afternoon, they also had to do it for CCC.
Chamisa said CCC MPs, who were all elected in by-elections this year following the launch of the party in January, were supposed to have rejected the loans on principle. He said:
CCC MPs were not supposed to drink from this poisoned chalice. They have joined the pioneer column, they have joined the gravy train and they have crossed the line.
I’ve told them that if you don’t act accordingly, you know what it means. The citizens are waiting for you and they are going to punish you heavily.
… I don’t agree with it, I don’t encourage it, I don’t support it, and I don’t believe that people must be talking about their welfare when the nation is struggling the way we are struggling.
I went to the hospital, US$40 000 will do so much just to transform the outlook of our hospitals, in terms of linen and beds that are broken.
It’s a pathetic situation, the toilets are not functioning. There’s nothing, not even boreholes, no water but if you take US$40 000 it will do wonders.
For Parliament to want to behave like a bank or the government to turn itself into a bank that is giving loans, for me, defeats any logic.
Chamisa said he has since engaged CCC MPs over the loans which he described as bribes. He said:
In fact, to call it a loan, is to be very nice. This is a bribe disguised as a loan, a donkey is a donkey, even if it looks like a horse. No.
Let’s call spade a spade. You can’t call a lion a cat. It is a lion. If it’s a cat, it’s a cat. Don’t try to confuse the terms. Yes, I have engaged MPs.
The government has offered a US$40 000 housing loan to each sitting Member of Parliament (MP), US$500 000 for individual ministers and US$350 000 for their deputies.
Meanwhile, a group of data analysts, Team Pachedu, has advised Chamisa to bar the MPs from contesting in the 2023 general elections. Said Team Pachedu:
The statement by Nelson Chamisa is what Zimbabwe needs, we need servant leaders, not Chefs.
It would be best for him to go into 2023 with new MPs and drop anyone who accepted the ‘bribe’.
There is nothing constant as change. Many young people are ready to step up and lead.