NGO goes after Chinomona

The recently launched civic organisation, Defend the Constitution Platform (DCP), has threatened legal action against Senate President Mabel Chinomona over allegations that Parliament used public funds to renovate her private residence in Harare.

Speaking at the DCP's launch in Harare on Wednesday, the platform's convenor, Senator Jameson Timba, expressed deep concern over findings in the Auditor-General's report, which flagged the expenditure of nearly US$400,000 on upgrades to Chinomona's home. The report detailed purchases of luxury items, including beds, kitchen appliances, flower vases, and curtains—one set alone reportedly costing US$60,000.

Auditor-General Reah Kujinga, in her 2023 and 2024 audit reports on Parliament, concluded that the renovations bypassed tender procedures, with suppliers handpicked and pricing exceeding legal procurement thresholds that require open competitive bidding. Kujinga noted that these practices circumvented procurement laws and created opportunities for financial abuse.

"The Platform notes with deep concern Auditor-General findings regarding the use of public funds to upgrade the private residence of the President of the Senate. Such conduct, if confirmed, represents a grave breach of public trust," Timba said.

He added that the DCP is reviewing options for legal action, including recovering the misused funds. Timba warned that Parliament's credibility is undermined when senior officeholders face unresolved allegations of financial abuse, particularly in the context of proposed constitutional changes.

"A Parliament presided over by unresolved allegations of public resource abuse lacks moral and constitutional authority to oversee any extension of presidential tenure," he said.

The DCP, positioned as a united front against Zanu PF's controversial 2030 agenda, emphasises the protection of constitutional term limits. Zimbabwe's Constitution restricts presidents to two five-year terms, with President Emmerson Mnangagwa currently serving his second and final term, due to expire in 2028.

Timba argued that alleged misuse of public resources by senior officials cannot be divorced from the broader fight for constitutionalism, suggesting that leadership under a cloud of scandal would lack the legitimacy to pursue changes to presidential term limits.

Chinomona, who also serves as Zanu PF Women's League chairperson, has not publicly responded to the Auditor-General's findings or to the DCP's threat of legal action.

The development adds to growing public scrutiny over accountability and the use of state resources by senior political officeholders in Zimbabwe.