POLITICAL parties that receive funding under the Political Parties Finance Act should be subjected to public scrutiny to ensure accountability on the use of the taxpayer's money, election watchdog Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) has said.
In its compendium recently, Zesn also called for the amendment of the Political Parties Finance Act to enable smaller parties to benefit from State funding.
Zesn said political parties should declare their source of funding to ensure transparency in the interest of the public.
The election watchdog said the Political Parties Finance Act should introduce a strict regulatory framework for private funding of political parties.
“This includes setting limits for the source, size and use of donated funds by political parties. There should be a public declaration of donated funds [with set limits on donated amounts] and public reports on all electoral expenditures prior to approval of nomination and after the declaration of election results,” Zesn said.
“All financial records should be audited after an election. Zec should monitor the declarations of donations to political parties and donors and publish these periodically on its website.
“Zec must annually submit a report to Parliament on the audited annual financial statements submitted by political parties. Zec should ensure that all political parties comply with obligations in terms of the Political Parties Finance Act.”
Meanwhile, Zesn has called for the amendment of the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act (Mopa) to establish transparent procedures for all public meetings.
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Mopa was enacted in 2019 to repeal the draconian Public Order and Security Act (Posa), but the new law retained some repressive clauses such as limiting the right to peaceful assembly.
Under Mopa, individuals, political parties and other groupings must seek police clearance before holding public gatherings.
“Safeguard the right to participation by amending Mopa and prescribing consistent regulations that do not impinge on democratic processes by all and sundry,” Zesn said.
Ahead of the disputed August 2023 elections, the Citizens Coalition of Change had close to 100 of its rallies banned by police.
Key findings by the Carter Center election observer mission also revealed that police banned over 300 proposed public gatherings during the elections.
