Keeping tabs on Parly sitting

In shock claims that will sting Zanu PF, MDC chief whip Innocent Gonese told reporters at the MDC HQ Tuesday that Zanu PF spindoctor Prof Jonathan Moyo had offered a US$5,00 bribe to MDC legislators to vote for Zanu PF candidate Simon-Khaya-Moyo in an election for a new Speaker slated for 3pm today. Five of them have now admitted that they were paid to vote for Khaya-Moyo while at least ten others beleived to have received the inducements but denied; are under probe.

Efforts to get Moyo to immediately comment on the allegations were futile.

But Gonese said: “The MDC has unearthed a scandal and bribery scam hatched and executed by a criminal syndicate representing a Zanu PF faction to coerce MDC MPs to cast their ballots in the election of the Speaker of the House of Assembly in favour of Simon Khaya Moyo this afternoon.

“Five of our MPs received $5 000 from a coordinator of the syndicate, a Senator Gaule , which they quickly handed over to Hon Innocent Gonese and Hon Dorcas Sibanda, the MDC chief whips, as the evidence of the scam. We are in possession of $25 000 which our MPs have surrendered this morning. From the evidence provided by our MPs, the people coordinating are Jonathan Moyo, Senator Believe Gaule and Kudakwashe Bhasikiti. It is shameful and regrettable that Jonathan Moyo together with his colleagues were in the cockpit of these bribery and desperate efforts to corrupt our people. “

Khaya-Moyo squares off in an election for a new Speaker today with the ousted Speaker Lovemore Moyo. A March 10 Supreme Court ruling invalidated his election to the post two years ago after a challenge by Moyo, who asserted rules governing a secret ballot were breached.

A declaration by the MDC led by Prof Welshman Ncube on Monday that it was rallying behind the MDC-T candidate had put Zanu PF in an awkward position, given that MDC and Zanu PF both share 96 seats, with the MDC-N holding the eight seats that can swing the vote either way.

It is not immediately clear how many MPs have been offered the bribes. But Gonese said the MDC was probing 10 MPs who have refused to own up. “The MDC is investigating 10 other cases of MPs who we understand have been approached to be part of the bribery scam,” Gonese said. “We are aware of who they are and are waiting to the money and other evidence as soon as possible. Investigations are continuing, and if it is firmly established that money indeed changed hands, stern measures will be instituted against the culprits.”

The MDC secretary general Tendai Biti hit out at MPs who have joined the pro-Zanu PF Speaker campaign lobby, calling them “selfish” and describing them as “purveyors of Zanu PF’s agenda.”

Gonese said it was sad that the entire nation could descend to such wayward behaviour. He said five other MPs had notified the Chief Whip that they have been promised prime farms, choice agricultural plots and cars as a reward for voting for Khaya-Moyo, which Gonese described as a betrayal of “the wishes and aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe by voting for a Zanu PF candidate.”

“We have sent a word out that we will not tolerate such behaviour,” he said. “Representation in the MDC abhors the deliberate sabotage of the people’s destiny and real change for pieces of silver and mercenary behaviour. We are a party of the people; a party that mirrors the legitimate wishes, concerns and dreams of all Zimbabweans; and a party of excellence.We wish to thank our colleagues who have come forward and exposed the Zanu PF scam.” Gonese said the MDC was aware of a plot by Zanu PF to rig the vote.

“There is no way the election of the Speaker can possibly be free and fair if the House of Assembly is not properly constituted,” he said. “Several MPs have been disenfranchised through arrests on trumped up charges in order for Zanu PF to achieve a pre-determined outcome of the election. The party wishes to record its appreciation of the gesture and decision by our progressive counter-parts in Parliament who have announced their intention to back Hon. Lovemore Moyo.”