Govt Will Be Guided By Law On Political Parties Funds - Ziyambi
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has said the Government will be guided by the law when distributing the budgeted funds for political parties.
ZANU PF and CCC are the only two political parties that qualify to receive the funds under the Political Parties and Finance Act.
However, a few weeks after the August 2023 general elections, a dispute arose within CCC after Sengenzo Tshabangu, who claims to be the party’s interim secretary general, challenged party leader Nelson Chamisa’s authority, mainly by recalling the party’s elected representatives.
Since the party has no proper structures, there could well be disputes over where the political funding should go.
Tshabangu has since written to Ziyambi, claiming that he was the one entitled to receive the money, while Chamisa has sought to assert his authority on the party.
Parliament, the courts and the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works have all sided with Tshabangu.
In an interview with The Herald, Ziyambi said the Government will be guided by what the law provides in terms of the distribution of the money. He said:
The political parties in Parliament are identifiable. We have ZANU PF and CCC, so in that process, we will gazette how much has been allocated and what each party is entitled to.
We will then ask authorised representatives of the said parties to submit names and account numbers where the money will be deposited.
We will not release money if there are disputes but will allow them to fix their issues.
If it means they go to court we will comply with whatever the court would have ruled.
The money under the Political Parties and Finance Act is disbursed based on the percentage of votes the two parties received in the August 2023 harmonised elections.
For a political party to qualify, it should have garnered at least five per cent of the vote in a general election. Only ZANU PF and CCC reached the required threshold.
The Government promulgated the Political Parties Finance Act to bar political parties from receiving funding from foreign governments and organisations.
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