MDC Leader Nelson Chamisa. Picture: TIMESLIVE
THE defection of top party executive, Lillian Timveos from the Nelson Chamisa-led MDC Alliance to the ruling Zanu PF has opened a can of worms, with party insiders claiming the young opposition leader’s failure to rein in his “toxic and divisive” secretary-general Chalton Hwende had destroyed the party.
Timveos, the opposition party’s former deputy treasurer-general and Midlands senator, officially joined Zanu PF together with MDC-T secretary for local government, Blessing Chebundo on Wednesday, where they were paraded before President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.
More party officials are reportedly warming up to join Zanu PF, which has since the 2018 general elections, been accused of spending millions of dollars as well as abusing State institutions to destroy the opposition party, allegation it denies.
Govt gives ZANU PF, MDC-A $100m In Political Funding thezimbabwemail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thezimbabwemail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Douglas Mwonzora
Only Zanu-PF and MDC-T will share the $100 million allocated in the 2021 National Budget under the Political Parties Finance Act as all other parties failed to get at least five percent of the constituency votes in the 2018 election.
The $25 million budget of last year was quadrupled to $100 million in this year’s budget to help compensate for inflation. T
he constituent parties that made up the MDC-Alliance are treated separately for the purposes of sharing the money, which is why only the largest, the MDC-T, exceeded the five percent threshold.
In an interview yesterday, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said he hoped that the money will be disbursed early by Treasury to allow political parties to carry out their activities.
By Alois Vinga
OPPOSITION political outfit, ZimPF has written to newly elected MDC-T president, Douglas Mwonzora demanding a portion of the $7.5 million paid out by government under the Political Parties Finance Act (PPFA).
Last year, the government extended the payment to the then Thokozani Khupe led faction of the main MDC opposition, now under Mwonzora.
This was despite court challenges by the rival Nelson Chamisa led MDC Alliance which obtained a reprieve from the High Court blocking the disbursements.
ZimPF is among political parties that signed a pre-2018 election pact with MDC which later dumped the partners under unclear circumstances.
Zimbabwe: Khupe Seeks Mnangagwa Assistance Over Mwonzora Fraud ? allafrica.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from allafrica.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.