Zanu-PF, MDCA to share $8m

ZANU-PF and MDC-Alliance will share $8 million allocated to political parties by Treasury under the Political Parties Finance Act.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube set aside the $8 million in the 2019 National Budget he presented in Parliament in November.

The figure is higher than last year’s allocation of $6 million.

Zanu-PF will get the lion’s share of the money after it secured more than two-thirds of parliamentary seats as it trounced MDC-Alliance in the July 30 watershed elections, which were widely given a clean bill by local, regional and international observers. A rough calculation shows that the revolutionary party is set to pocket almost $6 million with MDC- Alliance taking home about $2 million, given its paltry seats in the National Assembly.

Zanu-PF won 145 of the 210 seats in the National Assembly against MDC-Alliance’s 63. The remaining two seats were won by the National Patriotic Front’s Masango “Blackman” Matambanadzo (Kwekwe Central) and independent candidate Mr Temba Mliswa (Norton).

Secretary for Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Mrs Virginia Mabiza confirmed the allocation yesterday.

“Yes, political parties were allocated $8 million in the Blue Book. It is under the Ministry of Justice Legal and Parliamentary Affairs,” said Mrs Mabiza.

Under the Political Parties Finance Act, only a political party that secures 5 percent of the total votes cast can benefit from the fiscus.

— Picture by Sydney Kawadza Zimtrade chief executive Mr Allan Majuru (right) hands over a sculpture to former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo who paid a visit to the Zimbabwe Pavilion during the ongoing Intra-African Trade Fair at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre in Cairo yesterday.