Broke Zanu PF flies 300 to Vic Falls

via Broke Zanu PF flies 300 to Vic Falls – NewsDay Zimbabwe December 11, 2015

FINANCIALLY-TROUBLED Zanu PF has splashed over $250 000 on airfares and accommodation for its 300-plus central committee members and Cabinet ministers attending the party’s national conference in Victoria Falls, NewsDay has learnt.

by XOLISANI NCUBE/RICHARD CHIDZA

This comes amid revelations the ruling party is broke, with lawyers engaged to defend its disputed victory in the 2013 elections still to receive their dues.

A central committee report set to be tabled before the conference today indicates that the party owes its creditors $15 million.

Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo and secretary for finance Obert Mpofu yesterday confirmed that 300 delegates were flown from Harare to the resort town at the party’s expense.

“The party is paying for that. As you are aware, we had various fundraising dinners and functions, so the money we raised is going towards that. What is wrong with flying our members to Victoria Falls? It is the duty of the party to make sure its people are taken care of and having central committee members flying is nothing amiss,” Khaya Moyo said.

Party insiders said airfares and accommodation costs for all the delegates, excluding members of the presidium, would gobble over $250 000.

Vice-Presidents Phelekezela Mphoko and Emmerson Mnangagwa flew separately, while President Robert Mugabe used a military jet from Gweru, where he had gone to officiate at a graduation ceremony at Midlands State University.

Mpofu, who is in charge of the party’s finances, defended the huge conference expenditure, saying: “After attending a crucial central committee meeting on Wednesday, it’s impossible for some to drive to Victoria Falls after that meeting.

“This is Zanu PF, the ruling party you are talking about, and we are funding all our activities.

“We have to make sure that people who should attend the conference are there and if it means flying them, we have to do so. We had our successful fundraising initiatives and we are putting the resources we received to good use.

“All our people are flying and we are paying, the party is paying. Nothing is for free.”

However, Zany PF’s financial report gleaned by NewsDay paints a different picture.

“The party’s financial position is unsatisfactory. There is need to explore strategies to grow the revenue base. To this end, intensifying the distribution and sales of membership cards as well as transforming M & S Syndicate into a well-managed corporate are priority areas for 2016,” the report read.

According to the report, the party is literally surviving on its annual share of funding under the Political Parties Finance Act, where it received $2 297 658,29 from Treasury last year.

More telling is the fact that in the same period, Zanu PF’s revenues from membership card sales plunged by 65% from $382 631 in 2014 to $132 557 this year.

The report state that for two years, the party has failed to pay lawyers who represented it during electoral legal cases in the aftermath of the 2013 polls.

“The legal practitioners who represented the party during the 2013 harmonised elections are not yet paid,” the Zanu PF report read.

“The [finance] department is currently not in good standing with the lawyers who represented the party in the courts of law. We run the risk of legal practitioners refusing to handle party matters in the future.”

At the conference, Mugabe and his wife, First Lady Grace Mugabe, the Vice-Presidents, politburo members and Cabinet ministers are booked at the top three hotels – Elephant Hills, Rainbow and Kingdom — while central committee members are booked at various lodges including Mpofu’s Khanondo Safaris, among others.

Ordinary delegates are booked at school premises and State institutions in the resort town, while others have been moved to Livingstone, across the border in Zambia.

A return ticket to Victoria Falls costs $170, while a single night at a five-star hotel costs at least $150 per person. Those who wish to travel with their spouses will have to pay more from their pockets. But this excludes Cabinet ministers, whose bills are being taken care of by their respective ministries, according to officials.

Membership card sales raised $133 090 countrywide with Mashonaland East and Central selling 88 121 and 49 398 of the 300 000 cards they received. From the report, the party disbursed 35 000 cards to Mashonaland West, but sold 8 005, while 2 000 out of 8 000 cards were sold in the Midlands province.

“Strategies to enhance sales of membership data forms should be explored in almost all provinces,” the report added.

During fundraising, each province was given a target of $50 000 as the party aimed to raise $3 million for food, accommodation and transport for the 4 100 delegates. Mpofu is on record saying they beat their budget by threefold, suggesting they raised $9 million.

Back to Home page