Zimbabwe’s ruling party ZANU-PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa is questioning the legality of the sources of campaign finance for the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party led by Nelson Chamisa.

Subsequent to the increase in nomination fees by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) where presidential candidates’ fee were raised from US$1,000 to US$20,000, election to a constituency fee raised from US$50 to US$1,000 and party-list fee doubled, from US$100 to US$200, opposition political parties were at pains to find the money. Going by this increase, a party like CCC needed to have found over US$238,000 to field a full slate of candidates for nomination in the August 2023 general election.

Mutsvangwa was speaking to journalists during a presser on the position of ZANU-PF on the presidential candidature of one of the party’s former leaders, Savior Kasukuwere. Kasukuwere who is living in exile, is one of the candidates nominated to contest for presidency along with incumbent president Emerson Mnangagwa during the next presidential elections.

Secrets Known understands that CCC is now conducting a rigorous fundraising drive for campaign financing from the private sector, Zimbabweans living in the diaspora and other well-wishers. Zimbabwe does not have a law that regulates political party and campaign financing.

The ZANU-PF spokesperson was however generous with information about how his party is sourcing its political finance. “New dollar notes are printed in New York, USA and carried to Dubai. A plane leaves Harare packed with gold to Dubai. There is an exchange in Dubai, the plane comes back carrying new and packed US dollar notes. The gold is not smuggled but traded by the reserve bank…:” Mutsvangwa revealed.

It is a secret known that in African countries where one party has been in power for over 30 years, and having started as a revolutionary movement, there is always fusion between party and state structures. In such a situation, the party in power raids the national treasury to finance election campaigns for regime survival.