In A Year Of Drought, Mthuli Ncube Pampers MPs With Stands, Cars, And Increased CDF
Pressure from Members of Parliament has led Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion, Mthuli Ncube, to announce increases in funding for lawmakers, reported ZimLive.
In response to their demands, Ncube has doubled the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocation and pledged to purchase more vehicles for MPs.
Originally, Ncube allocated ZiG1.7 billion for Parliament in his budget statement presented on November 28. However, following parliamentary pressure, he raised this amount by an additional ZiG1 billion.
During the debate on his 2025 budget on Wednesday, Ncube explained that financing the added costs required tapping into “back pocket funds.”
Some of the specific requests from MPs included more vehicles for parliamentary committee chairpersons, allowances for staff, residential stands for lawmakers, the clearance of CDF arrears, as well as increased sitting, fuel, and foreign allowances.
To meet these demands, Ncube allocated approximately US$120 million for staff salaries, ZiG250 million for additional cars for MPs, ZiG378 million for clearing CDF arrears, ZiG72 million for MPs’ fuel allowances, ZiG50 million for domestic and foreign allowances, and another ZiG50 million for lawmakers’ offices and tools of trade.
Additionally, Ncube doubled the CDF allocation to US$100,000 per constituency for the country’s 210 constituencies and set aside funds to purchase buses for transporting parliamentary staff. He said:
What we did not do is in a sense we can see that it is an area of pressure and we need some back pocket to approve what they were proposing but to make provision for it because within our budget to cater for additional motor vehicles.
Now let me go back and say that for the CDF and clearance of tools of trade and office equipment for staff and MPs, I am proposing an additional ZiG72 million.
To support additional motor vehicle requirements which is a tool of trade, I am proposing an additional ZiG50 million.
For MPs’ fuel requirements, I am proposing an additional budget of ZiG378 million.
I am proposing a back pocket for parliament of ZiG200 million and an additional ZiG50 million for the constituency offices and other tools of the trade ZiG250 million.
For domestic and foreign allowances, I am proposing ZiG 50 million.
Ncube said that the issue of residential stands for parliamentary staff is still under consideration and being addressed by the Ministry of Local Government.
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