Zimbabwe: Party regulation and funding

Updated May 2006

Zimbabwe has no law requiring registration by political parties. A party is simply defined in the Electoral Act (2004, 4(1)) as "any political organisation", while the Zimbabwe Electoral Commissions Act (2004, 2) defines a party as "an association of persons the primary object of which is to secure the election of one or more of its members to a local authority or parliament, or to secure the office of president, or to campaign for a specified result at a referendum".

State funding

Until the passage of the Political Parties (Finance) Act of 1992 there was no provision for the financing of political parties in Zimbabwe. The Act provided for state funding of political parties which held 15 seats in parliament or more (Ndoro 2005, 9). At this stage only the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) qualified, holding 117 of the 120 seats in the House of Assembly (Lodge et al 2002, 456). The United Parties challenged this provision in the Supreme Court in 1997 and the court ordered the threshold to be reduced to 5% of votes cast in the last general election; effect to this order was given by the Political Parties (Finance) Amendment Act of 1997 (Ndoro 2005, 9).

The amount allocated to parties being determined in the annual budget submitted to parliament, and is paid as soon as is practicable thereafter (Political Parties (Finance) Act 2001, 3(1),(6), 5). The budget lays down the amount which each party must receive, and this is determined by the proportion of votes it received in the previous general election (Political Parties (Finance) Act 2001, 3(2),(3)). The law, as it stands, does not specify that the general election is that of the House of Assembly, for at the time of its passage the Senate had not yet been revived. Candidates elected unopposed are deemed to have received all the votes of that constituency. By-election results must be used to recalculate the proportions of the parties every year (Political Parties (Finance) Act 2001, 3(4)). The votes cast for independent candidates are disregarded, even if they subsequently form or join a party (Political Parties (Finance) Act 2001, 3(5)).

Parties qualifying for funding must make application to the Minister administering the Act by the end of the financial year and the Minister may reject the application if it seems that the party does not qualify for funding (Political Parties (Finance) Act 2001, 4(1), (2)). Appeals against a decision of the Minister may be made to the High Court and appeals to the Supreme Court may be made against decisions of the High Court (Political Parties (Finance) Act 2001, 4(3)-(7)).

The Minister is empowered to make regulations for the administration of the Act, including regulations governing records of donations by political parties as well as books of accounts and their audit and the form, content and publication of accounts by political parties (Political Parties (Finance) Act 2001, 8).

Prohibition of foreign funding

The Political Parties (Finance) Act prohibits political parties and candidates for public office from receiving funds from foreign donors, whether channelled directly or indirectly (2001, 6(1). There is a presumption that donations accepted by a member of a party were accepted by the party itself, unless the receiver failed to disclose the donation to the party (Political Parties (Finance) Act 2001, 6(2)). Contravention of this provision is punishable with a fine equal to the value of the donation, or Z$100 000 (whichever is the greater amount) and the forfeiture of the donation to the State (Political Parties (Finance) Act 2001, 6(3)). If the donation is returned to the donor within 30 days of the donation being made, the donation is deemed not have been made (Political Parties (Finance) Act 2001, 6(4)).

The law further provides that no foreign citizens may solit donations for a political party or candidate, with the same penalties applying for contravention of this provision as for the receiving of foreign funds (Political Parties (Finance) Act 2001, 7).

References

LODGE, L, KADIMA, D & POTTIE, D 2002 (eds), Compendium of Elections in Southern Africa, EISA, 434-447.

POLITICAL PARTIES (FINANCE) ACT (CHAPTER 2:11), [www] http://aceproject.org/regions-en/eisa/ZW/Political%20Parties%20%28Finance%29%20Act%20Chapter%202%2011.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 9 Mar 2010).

NDORO, C 2005, EISA Election Update 2005 Zimbabwe [PDF document], 1, 4 March, 6.