Think well before you act 

Dear Honourable Minister Ziyambi,I read with dismay a media story in which you are reported to have said that Government of Zimbabwe will be giving the “Khupe” money that is supposed to be given to parties with enough parlimentarians to qualify for a financial allocation under the Political Parties Finance Act. You are reported to have said the money had not been given to the MDC due to Covid-19, which is a bit suspect as the money, in my view, should have been given to the Party which is registered with Zec and with Parliament as having members of Parliament elected in 2018. You are quoted as saying “I think the claims by the Mwonzora group are correct”, and I would like to suggest to you that the claims by the Mwonzora Group are not correct.

Senator Mwonzora has talked about an agreement which lapsed way back. I will share with you section 4.2.1.5 of the Agreement which reads “Each party shall appoint its own Party Chief Whip”, and section 4.2.1.6 of the same agreement which goes further to say “The Alliance Party Whips shall constitute themselves into a forum for coordinating alliance business and the Chairpersonship of the forum shall rotate monthly amongst the whips”.

You are in Parliament, Honourable Ziyambi, and can you tell me how many chief whips you have in Parliament representing the MDC Alliance? You have been sold an expired document by Senator Mwonzora, what he gave you was the original thinking when the MDC Alliance was formed, but it went on to abandon that agreement and discarded the agreement, that is why the Party registered with the Zimbabwe Elections Commission as MDC Alliance, and after the elections registered with Parliament as MDC Alliance, and went on to appoint one Chief Whip because it had morphed into one party.

There is no way, Honourable Ziyambi, money can be given to a Political Party led by Dr. Khupe which contested the elections.

It is common knowledge that most countries in the world register with the Elections Bodies in their respective countries, and that is the only form of registration required for political parties. Could you tell me, Honourable Ziyambi, what other legislation political parties are required to register under apart from the Electoral Act? This is the practice globally, and you may want to check with representatives of the United Nations based in Zimbabwe who will access this open letter to you, and you will know that the only registration for political parties is done under the respective electoral laws. The Party led by Dr. Khupe is registered with the Zimbabwe Elections Commission, and the Party led by Advocate Chamisa was also separately registered under the same body, and you know better how each performed in the elections.

Please do not confuse the Political Parties Finance Act with the mooted Supreme Court judgement, which is an effort to bring back together two parties which have divorced. Even you Honourable Ziyambi, if a couple who have issues come to you with their dispute, you will obviously encourage them to get back together, which the Supreme Court did and gave the divorced parties 120 days to resolve their dispute through an Extra Ordinary Congress to elect a President. The Court ruling says clearly it is vital that that be done, but does not say it must be done, and gives a timeframe, after which neither party will be penalised if the Extra Ordinary Congress does not materialise.

Think before you act, Honourable Ziyambi, and save our beloved country which trying to regain international recognition.