MDC President Nelson Chamisa has admitted there is massive corruption in MDC run councils, and has vowed to expel any official implicated in the vice.
Addressing journalists at the Bulawayo Media Centre Tuesday, the main opposition leader said the party was drafting new laws to ensure that its councillors were not involved in graft.
“Within the MDC, we are actually enforcing a new rule. All councillors and MPs must sign what is called the Real Change Code of Ethics and Value,” said Chamisa.
“You are not allowed to benefit from where you are. In some cases, there is a significant change of lifestyle when one becomes a councillor or MP. That is improper.”
He said all local authorities under the MDC would be subjected to an integrity and accountability test. He also encouraged people who know of corrupt councillors to report them on the party’s hotline numbers.
“If people have information, they feel our councillors and mayors have crossed the line, they must phone to our hotlines. We do not hesitate to throw them out because we are not Zanu PF where corruption is celebrated and a religion.
“We are MDC but you also understand the tendency of councillors is to mimic and copy Zanu PF because they have set the standard of leadership and I have told our councillors that our duty is to make sure that we become centres of excellence and also become sources of a difference in our politics,” he said.
Chamisa said most of the MDC councillors and MPs now view MDC as an employment agent where they can get opportunities for employment in local authorities and Parliament.
Chamisa also said some unnamed senior party officials would be investigated.
“Going forward, I have said within the party, certain elements have to be subjected to interrogation and inquires so that we maintain standard. So, there will be no scared cows,” he added.
The party was early this month reported to have engaged external auditors after over $2 million was stolen from its coffers. – Newzim
