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This comes amid reports that the funds, that did not come through normal channels, could have been abused.
FoZ is a grouping of representatives of countries that imposed illegal economic sanctions on Zimbabwe.
The countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, the EU, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
“That is a lot of money and we are surprised that things in some departments that are said to have benefited through the funding are still in a deplorable state. Where did that money go?”
FoZ — in a communiqué released after a meeting attended by Ministers Patrick Chinamasa (Justice and Legal Affairs), Elton Mangoma (Energy and Power Development) and Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga (Regional Integration and International Co-operation) in London last week — said it had “increasingly shifted its support from humanitarian aid towards transitional and longer development assistance.”
The communiqué said FoZ had poured in around US$2,6 billion.
It claimed the money had been instrumental in improving food security and delivering such basic services as health, education and water and sanitation.
However, analysts yesterday said some of the areas FoZ claims have not seen much improvement since the formation of the inclusive Government.
“This money has to be accounted for. The money, as claimed, was disbursed through non-governmental organisations.
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“It did not come through Government and when you do such a thing, you create room for abuse. The money was distributed through their NGOs and some which they created and the money went to people’s salaries and other overheard expenses of the countries that were giving the money.”
They gave an example of Idazim, which was supplementing salaries for people working under parallel structures of the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The money could have been used to top up salaries in these parallel structures and MDC-T ministries. Most of this money could have gone to the so-called democratic purposes, which is actually regime change disguised under the so-called democratic processes,” they said.
“There are people buying houses outside Zimbabwe. There are people who are now owning properties in South Africa, Zambia and other countries in southern Africa. The money did not benefit any of the areas the Friends of Zimbabwe claim to have assisted.”
The health, education and water and sanitation areas are sorry state, the analysts said.
“The PM threatened to fire the health minister because of the poor state of the health sector. The same with the water and sanitation which continues to be the worst in urban centres like Harare and Bulawayo.
“You cannot promote a country through parallel structures. These are the same countries that have imposed illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe. The illegal sanctions are not just travel bans since they have blocked companies like Mbada Diamonds from selling their gems. They have barred Zimbabwe from getting funding from international firms like the IMF.”
The analysts also questioned the idea behind channeling funds through MDC-T dominated councils that have been riddled by corruption.
“The money has been abused. There should be serious calls for accountability because there is a lot of corruption. However, this has actually put Zimbabwe under sovereign risk through the sanctions because if we did not have the sanctions we can make our own US$2,6 billion from our resources.”
They also reiterated the need to probe how the money was spent.
“They must be strong calls for investigations into how that money was spent.”
Political analyst Mr Gabriel Chaibva said the West was trying to recolonise Zimbabwe through their proxies in the MDC-T and NGOs.
“The unwitting revelation of the amount of money that has been pumped into the regime change activists is a very clear indication of how Europe and the West are seeking to recolonise Zimbabwe.
“It is an open secret that the money went through the pockets of MDC-T officials and their allies in the so-called NGOs sector. There must be no doubt among Zimbabweans over who is funding the MDC-T. Imagine what the US$2,6 billion would have done to the economy of Zimbabwe if it had come through official channels,” Mr Chaibva said.
He said it was imperative that Zimbabwe enacts laws against organisations working in cahoots with foreigners to destabilise the country.
“We should have a Homeland Act to specifically guard against internal threats such as those posed by some people in the NGO sector. They have such laws in most of these Western countries and I do not see why we cannot do the same,” he said.
“However, in a few months (after the elections) time the fools would have parted with their money and would be mourning and groaning and gnashing teeth when they will be counting their losses,” he said.
Political scientist Mr Godwine Mureriwa concurred saying westerners wanted to hoodwink Zimbabweans with filthy lucre.
“They call themselves Friends of Zimbabwe yet in essence they are the enemies of Zimbabwe. The funds come through NGOs they have created for purposes of regime change.
“They want to hoodwink Zimbabweans that they are funding development yet they have imposed sanctions that stifle the country’s capacity to develop,” said Mr Mureriwa.
He said the cutting of funds for the National Constitutional Assembly was an indication of the Western agenda on Zimbabwe.
“Funding for the NCA has stopped because the leader, Professor Lovemore Madhuku is now opposed to the MDC-T agenda and has openly criticised its leadership.
“So only those people who toe their agenda are receiving such funds. They want to create a culture of dependency that is why the money does not come through the fiscus because they know it would then go to address concerns of industry, the resettled farmers and other productive sectors,” he said.
He added that there was no accountability in the administration of the funds because the whole process was a chain of corruption.
“If you were to evaluate how the NGOs work you will realise that most of the money goes to the pockets of a few individuals and they resort to stage-managing things, write false reports to justify their funding.
“It is a chain of corruption from the Western capitals where the money is coming from and the clandestine manner in which it is disbursed and the way it is used locally, there is no accountability at all,” Mr Mureriwa said.
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