CCC leader Nelson Chamisa is reportedly set to remove from party nomination lists some current Members of Parliament for taking up the US$40 000 “housing loans” offered to MPs by the Government last year.
Last year, Chamisa criticised the Government for alleged misplaced priorities over the housing loans advanced to Cabinet Ministers, their deputies and MPs.
He said it is “morally and ethically wrong” for the government to give out loans to “chefs” when the majority of the country’s citizens are suffering.
The Herald quoted an unnamed CCC insider as saying the issue of loans resurfaced during the opposition party’s candidate selection process. Said the official:
What is happening right now in the camp is something else. There is gross disorder and nothing that is happening there is transparent because as we speak Chamisa is threatening to dump some of the MPs who took the US$40 000 loan.
We thought it was something that was in the past as it was done above board, but to our surprise, it is something that is still weighing heavily in his head and some MPs will face his wrath.
However, CCC Chief Whip Prosper Mutseyami, who declined nomination for the upcoming general elections is on record as saying the loans were above board, hence the opposition MPs were justified in taking them up. He said:
The loan is, therefore, not a surprising executive instrument, but one that went through due process of appropriation and it’s provided for in the Constitution of the country and it’s not a donation and it is above board.
It was in this context that a housing facility was raised. Indeed over the years different facilities and loans have always been provided to Parliament.
The most common of these loans have been vehicle loans of up to US$60 000 in some cases. The loans have always been repaid.
Where there has been a default, Parliament has instituted legal proceedings and court records are public.
CCC is yet to announce its candidates for the 23 August general elections, with just a day before they file their nomination papers with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
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