By- The US$40 000 loans extended to MPS by the Zanu PF government have divided the Nelson Chamisa-led opposition CCC.

Chamisa last week said that his MPS, who received the “bribes”, had joined corruption.

He said the money was a bribe from the Zanu PF-led government and should be rejected. But his MPs, whose majority got the money, said they would not return it.

CCC Chief Whip in Parliament Prosper Mutseyami defended the party’s MPs, saying the loans are a “genuine part of the MPs’ welfare.” He said:
The suggestion in some quarters that loans are donations is not correct. In the midterm supplementary budget of September 2022 approved, provision was made for a housing or vehicle loan of US$40 000.
This loan was understood as a genuine part of the MPs’ welfare. The loan is therefore not a surprise executive instrument but one that went through the due process of appropriation as is provided in the constitution.
It is not a discretionary issue or an executive gratuitous gesture like the grants granted to ministers and deputy ministers.
In October of 2022, MPs were made to sign binding loan application forms which they executed.
In late November, parliament made partial disbursements of these loans. The loan in question is above board.
Mutseyami, who is the MP for Dangamvura, said it was unfair to compare CCC legislators with those of ZANU PF simply because they accepted the loans. He said:
The loan in question is no excuse for state failure or the deplorable state of public services.
It is no excuse for 42 years of mismanagement and misallocation of public resources. And most certainly the loan cannot bribe or derail our cause.
We therefore reject the equalisation. We are not Zanu, have never been Zanu. We have remained principled and committed.
We have remained unwavering in our quest for transformation and change in our country We have faced dictatorship and its billions of dollars weaponised against our people.
Mutseyami also claimed that MPs are currently earning ZWL$$200 000 “which is equivalent to US$200.” He added:
The new salary remains way below the poverty datum line by a long margin.
It also remains way below the average regional salary of MPs which is US$2 000 even in economies smaller than Zimbabwe or countries such as Kenya and others where MPs are paid around US$13,000 a month.
This is in addition to the provision of constituency offices, and paid research assistance.
| ZimLive