By-The ruling Zanu PF party has bought about 500 cars to use in the 2023 election campaign.

The party has also spent millions of dollars on party regalia and the welfare of its VIPs.

According to NewsDay, the ruling party spent ZW$1.8 billion and over US$4.8 million from January to September on staff salaries, gratuities, transport, health and allowances for party bigwigs, among other expenses.

The local daily cited a report of Zanu PF’s recently held 7th national congress.

The report states that in 2017, the party only had 45 vehicles and now has 531 vehicles, the largest fleet in ZANU PF’s history. 

Read the report:

In 2018, the Zanu PF party acquired an additional 438 new motor vehicles bringing the fleet size to 486.

In 2020, the department of transport and social welfare received 15 new Isuzu double cab vehicles from the party treasury, bringing the fleet size to 501. Between December 2021 and September 2022, his Excellency the President and first secretary of the Zanu PF party, Comrade Dr Ed Mnangagwa donated 30 double cab vehicles to the party bringing the current fleet size to 531. Accordingly, the department of transport and social welfare remains grateful to leadership for this, and other interventions that saw unprecedented acquisition of the biggest motor vehicle fleet in the history of the party.

The report claimed that Zanu PF sources its funds from membership subscriptions, donations, allocations from the government under the Political Parties Finance Act and “investments”.

In the report, ZANU PF also acknowledged that the majority of Zimbabweans were not formally employed but earned their living from the informal sector, which it described as the “new mass employer.”

This is an indictment on President Mnangagwa who told delegates at his inauguration in 2017 that he would create “jobs, jobs, jobs.”