The Attorney-General, Mr Johannes Tomana, has instructed that investigations and arrests by the Anti-Corruption Commission of Members of Parliament accused of abusing their allocation of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) be put on hold as he has ordered the Ministry of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs to conduct a thorough audit of all 210 constituencies, instead of the about 55 that the ministry targeted in its sample audit.

The AG also ordered the ministry to come up with a report for each and every constituency, adding that this exercise should be completed by the end of June this year after which he would decide on the next course of action.

This new development is set to send shock waves among many MPs from across the political divide as there are allegations that the Ministry of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs did not do a thorough job amid allegations of trying to cover up for some legislators.

In a letter dated March 5 2012 and addressed to the acting permanent secretary in the ministry, Mrs Virginia Mabiza, obtained by The Sunday Mail from the ministry, Mr Tomana said: “I refer to my discussion with you earlier today and confirm that I have noted the need for all of us to properly, comprehensively and fairly deal with the results of the ongoing CDF audit which has given rise to investigations and arrests currently being handled by the Anti-Corruption Commission of Zimbabwe, by doing the following:

“(1.1) First complete the audit of the CDF for all constituencies;

“(1.2) Forward the report to me for consideration in terms of Section 76 (4) and (4a) of the Constitution; and

“(1.3) Hold in abeyance all current investigations and arrests by the Anti-Corruption Commission and prosecutions by my office related to the CDF.

“To ensure the integrity of the whole process, please ensure, as you have promised, that you complete the CDF audit by end of June 2012.

“By copy of this letter, the Anti-Corruption Commission of Zimbabwe is advised accordingly.”

Section 76 (4) of the Constitution empowers the AG to exercise his powers without the direction or control of any person or authority.

Subsection 4 (a) reads: “The Attorney-General may require the Commissioner of Police to investigate and report to him on any matter which, in the Attorney-General’s opinion, relates to any criminal offence or alleged offence, and the Commissioner of Police shall comply with that requirement.”

The letter was also copied to the Commissioner-General of Police Augustine Chihuri, amid indications that the AG wants the police to handle this matter as the police have the capacity and presence in all constituencies across the country.

Mr Tomana also wrote a cover note to the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Commissioner Denford Chirindon, saying: “I refer to my discussion with you earlier today and confirm my direction to the Anti-Corruption Commission of Zimbabwe that all investigations and arrests in connection with the CDF be held in abeyance pending the finalisation by the Ministry of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs of the Constituency Development Fund audit for the whole country.”

Highly placed sources familiar with this dramatic development told The Sunday Mail that the AG took this decision after some of the MPs who were targeted by the ministry spilled the beans of the corrupt activities of some of their colleagues. It is also understood that the AG’s Office was inundated with calls from members of the public who were alleging that their MPs abused their respective allocations and most of the calls were coming from constituencies that were not audited by the ministry.

Allegations are that the MPs did not follow laid-down procedures in utilising the funds, converted funds to personal use and also corruptly used their own companies and companies of their friends and relatives to procure supplies.

Further allegations are that they used the money to benefit themselves, in some cases drilling boreholes for themselves, buying grinding mills and building houses for themselves.

“The allegations are widespread and shocking. I thought it would be unfair for a few of us to be targeted. Without justifying what I did, I think the ministry conducted a corrupt and selective exercise by targeting a few of us.

“We think this was done to protect some MPs who are close to officials in the ministry. We can’t go down alone. I am surprised that the ministry conducted an audit sample as if the ministry is now a research institution.

“An audit, by definition, is about all and not some,” said one MP who refused to be named for fear of being victimised.

There are allegations also that while the non-audited constituencies submitted reports to the ministry on how they utilised the funds, the calls to the AG indicate that the majority of the reports are fictitious.

“I know for certain that many of my colleagues presented fictitious reports because what is in the reports does not match what is on the ground. They presented good paperwork that is hiding bad practice,” added the MP.

It is understood that the AG has gone as far as instructing the ministry not to just get financial reports but to audit the reports. A top legal expert told this paper that following this instruction by the AG, officials in the Ministry of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs have to be careful because the AG’s microscope is now not only looking at what happened on the ground, but anything wrong that was done by the ministry.

“So far, MPs from across the political divide have been arrested, but there was a feeling that this was being handled in a political way targeting certain individual MPs while looking the other way about MPs in similar or worse situations,” said the expert.

The expert said structures in the Ministry of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs clearly showed that the ministry is “too thin” to administer the CDF, adding that the Ministry of Finance should have looked into this issue before disbursing the funds.

“That ministry is too thin even at the top level and giving such a ministry such a task created the fertile ground for all this corruption. What made the situation even worse was that at the time the money was disbursed, MPs were not getting their allowances and the temptation to loot the CDF was very high.

“Now the careers of many MPs are on the line. This could end the political careers of some MPs. Primary and national elections are around the corner; what will become of those

MPs who will be found on the wrong side of the law?” asked the expert.

The instruction by the AG came after the arrest of three MPs — Albert Mhlanga (Pumula), Marvelous Khumalo (St Mary’s) and Franco Ndambakuwa (Magunje). The Minister of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs, Advocate Eric Matinenga, recently named 10 MPs, including two ministers, saying they faced arrest after failing to account for money given to them under the CDF.

The Constituency Development Fund is meant for constituency development projects and each MP got US$50 000. In the 2012 National Budget, Finance Minister Mr Tendai Biti allocated US$8 million to the CDF.